ksaldutti
Member
I laugh at many dealer comments when asked why sell a vehicle called a pickup truck with a 5.5 foot bed-box? They answered because that’s what people want. That is ludicrous! Most full size pickups finally had to offer minimal 6.4 to 6.9 foot bed-boxes even with extended and full crew size cabs. Anything shorter than a 6.4 bed-box is not a pickup truck, it's a joke, a fat heavy stocky SUV with a useless 3 person size hot tub bed-box. In fact the 5.5 foot bed-box is a quickly dying offering. Another factors are lower box wall depths are also useless. Pickup truck Bed-boxes had started to become shallower so if you enjoyed a bed-box tonneau cover the box became a hassle to fit anything higher than 18~19 inch at the most and still close your tonneau cover especially from weather. So many forced to purchase what has become very expensive bed caps for more height when all you really needed was just a couple more inches of bed wall depth. I guess it saved on mass production of metal costs but didn't due the customer any favors. Noted, that GM/Chevy pickups have lately designed deeper bed-box wall height that really makes a well noticeable difference. There is also a ridiculous situation of the so-called backup lights. I'll admit backup lights exist as a caution to others to let others know you’re in reverse not to light the way. Let's get real and either add or at least make optional real backup lighting that actually aides the path with high intensity LED path flood lighting. I'd be a cheap simple addition from the vehicle manufacturer. Mid-sized pickups have had their infiltration into the full size market so much so many manufacturers over many years have done rotations of stopping and starting this market always considering coming back in with a mini-me full size design that ends up priced deep into the full-size truck costing. The GM Canyon and Chevy Colorado are already priced well into the full-size market with pretty much the same accessories and options only in a slightly smaller platform. Now GM/Chevy are offering a high end premium midsized pickup starting at over $40k and can reach nearly $65k. Let's also remember that your actual fuel millage and costs aren't all that impressive as far as mpg and total annual estimate fuel costs. Strangely the bed-boxes on these midsized pickups are aren't that much smaller than their full-size family pickups, in fact The Honda Ridgeline is the only midsized pickup that is borderline rated as a true half ton just barely making the standards for that criteria. I myself as most don't actually consider the Honda Ridgeline pick up as a truck being set on a car like unibody design platform. Body on frame at least in the United States is a first criteria for a true pick-up truck.
